Tech's top flight - School wins international competition

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 01, 2006

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RAPID CITY -- Long days and sleepless nights paid off for a team of students at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology that finished first in the International Aerial Robotics Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., July 24-27.

The team rebounded from the loss of its primary remote-controlled helicopter only to crash its backup helicopter within hours of the final round of competition.

"Not many of us slept before it (the competition)," team manager D.J. Kjar of Custer said. He said some team members worked 43 consec utive hours, slept for five to six hours ... and then went back at it."

The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International sponsors the international contest, which requires students to launch a computer-controlled aerial vehicle capable of navigating a three-kilometer course using a global-positioning system. A computer, not an operator, controls the aerial vehicle. The vehicle must also launch a second vehicle, - called a sub-vehicle - capable of successfully entering a building and transmitting information back to its control site. The competition has four levels. Teams must successfully complete each level before advancing.

The contest started in 2000, and no team has successfully completed all four levels. Each year, $10,000 in prize money is added to the purse until the contest is won.

Kjar said many of his teammates are interested in aerial robotics because of the potential it has to save lives by giving the military and law enforcement the ability to use remote-controlled vehicles for surveillance in dangerous situations.

"A lot of this technology can be used in commercial and military applications," Kjar said.

Tech has competed in the contest for three years. This is the first time the team successfully flew its modified Bergen helicopter in the competition.

"Completion of the flying stage was really significant," team advisor Dan Dolan said in a news release.

After crashing the primary helicopter two weeks before the event, the team's backup helicopter was wrecked during a practice flight when its engine failed the day before the flight competition.

Tech learned at a banquet the night before the flight contest that it was leading with firsts in best paper, best presentation and best team T-shirt design.

"That really renewed everybody's strength," Kjar said. The team worked all night to rebuild the helicopter.

Tech and the University of Alabama had the only vehicles that successfully completed the flight course.

Tech team members attending the competition in Georgia were Charles "Tony" Adams, Grand Forks, N.D.; Jason Howe, Spring, Texas; Karthik Kiran, India; Simon Haumont, Kearney, Neb.; Josh Job, Spearfish; Jake Oursland, Mark Sauder and Brian Stone of Rapid City; and Kjar.

"This is one of the greatest teams I have ever been on," Kjar said. "They take pride in their work. They know what the team needs to get done to compete, so they really push themselves."

The team is funded in part by the Army Research Laboratory, Tech and others

For more information and photos on the Tech project visit the team Web site: http://uav.sdsmt.edu/uav.php?cpg=Home.